Biomedical Instrumentation A. Intro & ECG B8/BME Dr Gari Clifford (Based on slides from Prof. Lionel Tarassenko)
Who am I? UL in Biomed Eng Dir CDT in Healthcare Innoation @ IBME Signal Processing & Machine Learning for Clinical Diagnostics mhealth for Deeloping Countries Low Cost Electronics EWH / OxCAHT
Vital signs monitoring Clinical need Eery day, people die unnecessarily in hospitals 0,000 unscheduled admissions to Intensie Care p.a. 3,000 aoidable in-hospital cardiac arrests per annum Between 5% and 4% of patients with an unexpected cardiac arrest surie to discharge Vital sign abnormalities obsered up to 8 hours beforehand in >50% of cases
Identifying at-risk patients Acutely ill patients in hospital (e.g. in the Emergency Dept) hae their ital signs (heart rate, breathing rate, oxygen leels, temperature, blood pressure) continuously monitored but Patient monitors generate ery high numbers of false alerts (e.g. 86-95% of alarms - MIT studies in 97 & 06) Nursing staff mostly ignore alarms from monitors ( alarm noise ), apart from the apnoea alarm, and tend to focus instead on checking the ital signs at the time of the 4-hourly obserations
Continuous bedside monitoring in Emergency Department
Course Oeriew. The Electrocardiogram (ECG). The Electroencephalogram (EEG) 3. espiration measurement using Electrical Impedance Plethysmography/Pneumography 4. Oxygen Saturation using Pulse Oximetry 5. Non-inasie Blood Pressure
Course text books Biomedical Engineering Handbook, Volume I, nd Edition, by Joseph D. Bronzino (Editor), December 999, ISBN: 0-849-3046-X Medical Instrumentation: Application and Design, 3rd Edition, by John G. Webster (Editor), December 997, ISBN: 0-47-5368-0
eleant lecture notes OP-AMP CICUITS Year, pages to 4 FILTE CICUITS Year, pages to 5 INSTUMENTATION Year, pages to 4, 7-8, to 8 and 38 to 5. Please e-mail al.mitchell@eng.ox.ac.uk if you would like copies of the aboe. Course website: http://www.robots.ox.ac.uk/~gari/teaching/b8/
Quick Vote Do you want all these lectures printed out each day? (You can use laptops etc to take notes, just don t check your email.)
ToDo (for you) Sign up on weblearn for reision sessions B8 (Undergrad) (5 max per session) Question sheet : three sessions, 9 a.m. - noon on Friday of Week 7, in L4 Question sheet : three sessions 9 a.m. - noon on Friday of Week 8, in L4 MSc: Question sheet : a single session for all students, 3-5 p.m. on Friday of Week 7, in L3 Question sheet : a single session for all students, 3-5 p.m. on Friday of Week 8, in L3 Hand in sheets before hand!
Biomedical Instrumentation. The Electrocardiogram (ECG)
The Electrocardiogram If two surface electrodes are attached to the upper body (thorax), the following electrical signal will be obsered: This is the electrocardiogram or ECG
The origin of the ECG Atrial and entricular contractions are the result of carefully timed depolarisations of the cardiac muscle cells The timing of the heart cycle depends on: Stimulus from the pacemaker cells Propagation between muscle cells Non-excitable cells Specialised conducting cells (Atrio-Ventricular Node)
Important specific structures Sino-atrial node = pacemaker (usually) Atria After electrical excitation: contraction Atrioentricular node (a tactical pause) Ventricular conducting fibers (freeways) Ventricular myocardium (surface roads) After electrical excitation: contraction
Excitation of the Heart
Excitation of the Heart
Cardiac Electrical Actiity Putting it al together:
Approximate model of ECG To a first approximation, the heart can be considered to be an electrical generator. This generator dries (ionic) currents into the upper body (the thorax) which can be considered to be a passie, resistie medium Different potentials will be measured at different points on the surface of the body
ecording the ECG P T P A P LA P T P L LL Points P and P are arbitrary obseration points on the torso; P is the resistance between them, and T, T are lumped thoracic medium resistances..
Typical ECG signal
Components of the ECG waeform P-wae: a small low-oltage deflection caused by the depolarisation of the atria prior to atrial contraction. QS complex: the largest-amplitude portion of the ECG, caused by currents generated when the entricles depolarise prior to their contraction.
Components of the ECG waeform T-wae: entricular repolarisation. P-Q interal: the time interal between the beginning of the P wae and the beginning of the QS complex. Q-T interal: characterises entricular repolarisation.
ecording the ECG To record the ECG we need a transducer capable of conerting the ionic potentials generated within the body into electronic potentials Such a transducer is a pair of electrodes and are: Polarisable (which behae as capacitors) Non-polarisable (which behae as resistors) Both; common electrodes lie between these two extremes The electrode most commonly used for ECG signals, the siler-siler chloride electrode, is closer to a nonpolarisable electrode.
Siler-siler chloride electrode Electrodes are usually metal discs and a salt of that metal. A paste is applied between the electrode and the skin. This results in a local solution of the metal in the paste at the electrode-skin interface. Some of the siler dissoles into solution producing Ag + ions: Ag Ag + + e - Ionic equilibrium takes place when the electrical field is balanced by the concentration gradient and a layer of Ag + ions is adjacent to a layer of Cl - ions.
Electrode-electrolyte interface e - Electrode e - e - Ag + Ag Ag Ag Ag Current I Ag + Cl - Cl - Ag + Cl - Cl - Ag + Gel Illustratie diagram of electrode-electrolyte interface in case of Ag-AgCl electrode
Siler-siler chloride electrode Electrodes are usually metal discs and a salt of that metal. A paste is applied between the electrode and the skin. This results in a local solution of the metal in the paste at the electrode-skin interface. Ionic equilibrium takes place when the electrical field is balanced by the concentration gradient and a layer of Ag+ ions is adjacent to a layer of Cl- ions. This gies a potential drop E called the half-cell potential (normally 0.8 V for an Ag-AgCl electrode)
Siler-siler chloride electrode Electrode Ag + Ag + Ag + Ag + Ag + Ag + Ag + Cl - Cl - Cl - Cl - Cl - Cl - Cl - Gel Skin Ag Ag + + e - The double layer of charges also has a capacitie effect. Since the Ag-AgCl electrode is primarily non-polarisable, there is a large resistie effect. This gies a simple model for the electrode. Howeer, the impedance is not infinite at d.c. and so a resistor must be added in parallel with the capacitor.
Siler-siler chloride electrode The double layer of charges also has a capacitie effect. Since the Ag-AgCl electrode is primarily non-polarisable, there is a large resistie effect. This gies a simple model for the electrode. Howeer, the impedance is not infinite at d.c. and so a resistor must be added in parallel with the capacitor.
The Oerall Model The resistors and capacitors may not be exactly equal. Half cell potentials E and E' should be ery similar. Hence V should represent the actual difference of ionic potential between the two points on the body where the electrodes hae been placed.
Electrode placement V I = (potential at LA) (potential at A) V II = (potential at LL) (potential at A) V III = (potential at LL) (potential at LA) The right leg is usually grounded (but see later)
ECG Amplification Problems in ECG amplification The signal is small (typical ECG peak alue ~mv) so amplification is needed Interference is usually larger amplitude than the signal itself
st Problem: Electric Field Interference Capacitance between power lines and system couples current into the patient Electrical power system This capacitance aries but it is of the order of 50pF (this corresponds to 64MΩ at 50Hz... recall Xc=/C ) 50 pf If the right leg is connected to the common ground of the amplifier with a contact impedance of 5kΩ, the mains potential will appear as a ~0mV noise input. A LA the 50 Hz interference is common to both measuring electrodes! (common mode signals) L LL 5kΩ
The solution The ECG is measured as a differential signal. The 50Hz noise, howeer, is common to all the electrodes. It appears equally at the ight Arm and Left Arm terminals. ejection therefore depends on the use of a differential amplifier in the input stage of the ECG machine. The amount of rejection depends on the ability of the amplifier to reject common-mode oltages.
Common Mode ejection atio (CM) in = cm + d A d & A cm out = A cm cm + A d d CM = A d / A cm (ratio of differential gain to common mode gain)
Three Op-Amp Differential Amplifier
Three Op-Amp Differential Amplifier Ad = ) )( ( ) ( ) ( ' ' ' ' ' ' i. A d =
Ad = ) )( ( ) ( ) ( ' ' ' ' ' ' i When = = cm, A cm = Three Op-Amp Differential Amplifier
Ad = ) )( ( ) ( ) ( ' ' ' ' ' ' i cm cm d d A. A A. A CM = Three Op-Amp Differential Amplifier CM is product of CM for each input amplifier
nd problem: Magnetic Induction Current in magnetic fields induces oltage in the loop formed by patient leads A LA The solution is to minimise the coil area (e.g. by twisting the lead wires together) L LL
3 rd problem: Source impedance unbalance If the contact impedances are not balanced (i.e. the same), then the body s common-mode oltage will be higher at one input to the amplifier than the other.
3 rd problem: Source impedance unbalance If the contact impedances are not balanced (i.e. the same), then the body s common-mode oltage will be higher at one input to the amplifier than the other. Hence, a fraction of the common-mode oltage will be seen as a differential signal. see problem on example sheet
Summary Output from the differential amplifier consists of three components: The desired output (ECG) Unwanted common-mode signal because the common-mode rejection is not infinite Unwanted component of common-mode signal (appearing as pseudo-differential signal at the input) due to contact impedance imbalance
Drien right-leg circuitry The common-mode oltage can be controlled using a Drien right-leg circuit. A small current (<µa) is injected into the patient to equal the displacement currents flowing in the body.
Drien right-leg circuitry LA + - A a A LA - + A4 a L LL A - + A L 0
Drien right-leg circuitry
Drien right-leg circuitry The common-mode oltage can be controlled using a Drien right-leg circuit. A small current (<µa) is injected into the patient to equal the displacement currents flowing in the body. The body acts as a summing junction in a feedback loop and the common-mode oltage is drien to a low alue. This also improes patient safety (0 is. large see notes).
Other patient protection (Defib Protection) Isolation Filtering Amplification Anti-alias filtering Digitization
Static defibrillation protection For use in medical situations, the ECG must be able to recoer from a 5kV, 00A impulse (defibrillation) Use large inductors and diodes
Patient Isolation Opto-isolators DC-DC Conerters
F Shielding & Emissions Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) the ability of a deice to function (a) properly in its intended electromagnetic enironment, and (b) without introducing excessie EM energy that may interfere with other deices Electromagnetic disturbance (EMD) any EM phenomenon that may degrade the performance of equipment, such as medical deices or any electronic equipment. Examples include power line oltage dips and interruptions, electrical fast transients (EFTs), electromagnetic fields (radiated emissions), electrostatic discharges, and conducted emissions Electromagnetic interference (EMI) degradation of the performance of a piece of equipment, transmission channel, or system (such as medical deices) caused by an electromagnetic disturbance Electrostatic discharge (ESD) the rapid transfer of electrostatic charge between bodies of different electrostatic potential, either in proximity in air (air discharge) or through direct contact (contact discharge) Emissions electromagnetic energy emanating from a deice generally falling into two categories: conducted and radiated. Both categories of emission may occur simultaneously, depending on the configuration of the deice
Testing
Electrical safety (from Lecture B) Physiological effects of electricity: Electrolysis Neural stimulation Tissue heating
Electrolysis Electrolysis takes place when direct current passes through tissue. Ulcers can be deeloped, for example if a d.c. current of 0. ma is applied to the skin for a few minutes. IEC60 limits the direct current (< 0. Hz) that is allowed to flow between a pair of electrodes to 0 μa.
Neural stimulation An action potential occurs if the normal potential difference across a nere membrane is reersed for a certain period of time. This results in a sensation of pain (if sensory nere has been stimulated) or muscle contraction (if motor nere has been simulated).
Hazards of neural stimulation The effects of neural stimulation depend on the amplitude and frequency of the current, as well as the location of the current injection. If the current is injected through the skin, 75 ma 400 ma at 50 Hz can cause entricular fibrillation. Beware: under normal (dry) conditions, the impedance of the skin at 50 Hz is usually between 0 kω and 00 kω; if the skin is wet, the impedance can be kω or less. If the current is directly applied to the heart wall (e.g. failure of circuitry in a cardiac catheter), 00μA can cause entricular fibrillation.
Tissue heating The major effect of high-frequency (> 0 khz) electrical currents is heating. The local effect depends on the current amplitude and frequency as well as the length of exposure. Think about your mobile phone usage
Electricity can also be good for you Electrical shock is also applied to patients in clinical practice for therapeutic purposes. These applications make use of the neural stimulation effect: Pacemakers (to stimulate the heart) Defibrillators (to stop entricular fibrillation) Implantable Stimulators for Neuromuscular Control (to help paralysed patients regain some neuromuscular control).
Electricity can also be good for you